MP: 11,500 Bhopal Gas Victims Didn't Turn Up for Claims

Claims of more than 11,500 Bhopal Gas leak victims are pending with the Madhya Pradesh government due to their "non-appearance".

According to an RTI reply by Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, about Rs 3,058 crore was given in over five lakh Bhopal gas tragedy cases.

"Out of 10,29,517 claim cases, after due adjudication by Office of the Welfare Commissioner, compensation was awarded in 5,74,376 cases under various categories of injury," it said.

The compensation was given in 5,27,894 cases of minor injury, 35,455 related to temporary disability, 5,295 cases of death, 4,902 for sustaining permanent disability, 547 for loss of property, 233 relating to loss of live stock, 42 for injury of utmost severity and eight other matters of public sector units or government, it said.

The gas tragedy struck on the intervening night of December 2-3 1984, in Bhopal.

Madhya Pradesh government has up to July 31, 2011 awarded compensation of Rs 3058.80 crore which comprises Rs 1548.55 crore as compensation to 5,74,376 original claimants and an additional pro-rata compensation of approx Rs 1510.25 crore to 5,62,761 of these claimants, the reply said.

"Payment of pro-rata compensation in 11,615 cases is pending due to non-appearance of claimants," it said in response to the RTI query filed by advocate Vivek Garg.

Garg's application was also moved to the Ministry of Environment and Forest for details of all kinds of correspondence between it and from the offices of the then Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh Digvijay Singh and late Arjun Singh. The Environment Ministry asked the applicant for Rs 6,960 towards photocopying charges of 3,480 pages.